A blog about genealogy and thoughts about the various roots and branches of my family tree as well as the times in which my ancestors lived.Included are the West, White,and McFarland families.WARNING:DO NOT TAKE ALL OF MY FAMILY RECORDS AS GOSPEL. ALWAYS CONFIRM YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Last July, Terry Thornton alerted us to a post at the Deep-Fried Kudzu blog about thepartial destruction of a 1500 year old Indian mound in the town of Oxford, Alabama. Itwas being destroyed so that the dirt could be used for the foundation of a new Sam’sClub store. Despite protests raised over the loss of a site that could have significanceto Native Americans, the mayor of Oxford remained adamant on continuing with theproject. Quite a bit of damage was done to the mound and only an offer from a localfarmer to provide dirt saved what was left.

Now comes word that the mayor is planning to level off the top of the hill to build anew restaurant or hotel.

When I read this article yesterday I immediately thought about Emitt Smith’s segmentof “Who Do You Think You Are?” where he looks over the fence at the cemetery wherehis slave ancestors are buried in unmarked graves in the woods. What if that area hadbeen cleared for a building or paved over for a parking lot?

Please spread the word about this disregard of Indian cultural history .If youare a geneablogger, alert your readers with a post or with a link here to this article.If you belong to a historical or genealogy society, tell your fellow members and urge themto email or snailmail the Oxford, Alabama officials to protest the mayor’s plans.

The address is:145 Hamric Drive East, PO Box 3383, Oxford AL 36203

The email address iscityhall@oxfordalabama.org

You can read the article about the new plan in this weekends edition of the N.Y. Times.

Let’s use the surge of interest in genealogy to save this site and others like itthat are important to all our heritages.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

One of the problems of my recent medical problem is that I’ve fallen behind on researchingand writing articles for upcoming editions of the Carnival of Genealogy and the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture. I was optimistically thinking I could turn out entries for bothtoday but came to the realistic conclusion about ten minutes ago that it wasn’t going tohappen. So Jasia and Lisa, to quote Jethro Tull(since I’ve already paraphrased Neil Sedakain the article title) “hope you don’t mind if I sit this one out.”

On the other hand I’ve been able to catch up on posts from other geneabloggers andjust this morning read Randy Seaver’s post over at Genea-Musings from his AmanuensisMonday series which this week is the will of our mutual ancestor John Prescott. I thought Ihadn’t known of that connection between Randy and myself but now I’m wondering ifI might have forgotten a previous mention, At any rate, if you’ve been following my serieson my Lancaster, Massachusetts ancestors you should go to Randy’s blog to see JohnPrescott’s will.

It’s taking me a bit to get back into the swing of things since I came home and my latenight genealogy blogging and research have been on the backburner in favor of sleeping.But it’s my day off today so I am hoping to get a post or two done today!

I’m starting off with a late(nearly a week!)response to Randy Seaver’s latest Saturday NightGenealogy Fun challenge over at his Genea-Musings blog:

1) Pretend that you are one of the subjects on the Who Do You Think You Are? show on NBC TV.

2) Which of your ancestors (maximum of two) would be featured on your hour-long show? What stories would be told, and what places would you visit?

3) Tell us about it on your own blog, in comments to this blog post, or in a Note or Comment on Facebook.

Well, this a no-brainer for me; I’d have them tackle my two big brickwalls.

First off, we’d have the experts research my ancestor John Cutter West. We’d start offvisiting the places in Maine that were important in his life:

Sumner Maine where he married Arvilla Ames in 1827.

Upton Maine where they and their family lived.

The roadside cemetery where he and several of his children are buried, The story of theterrible diphtheria epidemic of 1862 would be told.

Then we’d travel to the NEHGS to meet with experts who will have found at long lastrecords of John Cutter West’s place of birth in Plymouth County Massachusetts andthe names of his parents.

The segment would end with a visit to whatever town where John was born and perhapsthe graves of his parents.

The other segment would be a search for my maternal grandfather Edward Francis WhiteSr. This would take place mostly in the Boston area and look for the answers to:

Where did his parents come form?

Who did he marry after his marriage to my grandmother Aggie was over?

How many children did he have in his new family? What were their names and do I haveanycousins living near me? Do they even know about Edward’s first family? Would theywant to meet his other grandchildren, my sister, my brother and myself?

When did Edward die and where is he buried?

The program would end with a visit to his grave.

There it is. Not so far to travel but it would answer so many questions for both sides ofmy family!

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Like most of my geneablogging colleagues I was waiting for the premiereof the new NBC genealogy program "Who Do You Think You Are?" withgreat anticipation and hopes it would do a good job making genealogyinteresting to the general public. After watching the first episode lastnight, I think the answer is a resounding yes.

I liked the fact that the search for Sarah Jessica Parker's Hodgeancestors began where any family history research should start ifpossible with a conversation with family members who might haveinformation. And then other sources were shown as useful fortracing your family, such as census records, obituaries, and best ofall, historical and genealogical societies. I wish more had been saidabout how long such searches usually take for the average person,however.

One review I've seen refers to the program as "Ancestry with theStars" and some bloggers have said they wish the program woulduse everyday people as subjects, but let's face it, folks, first andforemost this is an entertainment program. If it is to have anychance of ratings success it needs a Sarah Jessica Parker ratherthan a Mary Jones to attract viewers.

One point that had some of my Fb friends concerned was that neitherSJP and the archivist were wearing gloves when handling the originalwarrant for witchcraft against SJP's ancestor. But the use of glovesseems to not be a universal rule. I recalled that the History Detectivesshow mentioned this and found this link on Facebook about why theyare also occasionally shown not using gloves:

While I eventually tired of SJP's reactions I don't doubt they were genuine.The show was filmed before the birth of her twins and she used the Hodgeand Elwell surnames as part of her childrens' names.

Finally, during the show my brother called. He and his fiancee werewatching and wondered if SJP's Elwell ancestor was one of the witchesin our own family tree. I told him no, that ours were Mary Eastey andRebecca Blake. Then after the commercial when SJP was visiting amemorial to the victims of the Witch Hysteria, the second marker shebrushed the snow off was for Mary Eastey! What are the odds?

Overall, I give the premiere an A-. What did the general publicthink? I haven't seen any ratings yet, but after the show aired,traffic at the Ancestry.com site seems to have suddenly becomequite heavy!

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

I haven't been able to find a description of Andrew Gardner's garrison housebut from what I've found about the circumstances of his death there was a wallwith some sort of watchtower around the house. During times of heightenedof Indian activities in the area Rev. Garner's garrison was manned by his neighborsand likewise sheltered their families. Since his house had originally been part ofJohn Prescott's lands, it's unsurprising to find Prescott relations among the 9 menin the garrison list:

So on that October night in 1704 there were nine men and their families within thegarrison. The men would have taken shifts on sentry duty, and it was this which led tothe circumstances of Rev. Gardner's death:

"I now return to the westward, where, on the 25th of October the enemy did some mischief. Lancaster was alarmed, and the alarm was the means of the untimely death of the Rev. Mr Gardiner their worthy pastor. Several of the inhabitants who belonged to the garrison, were wearied by hard travelling the day before, in pursuit of the enemy. This caused this goodman out of pity and compassion to watch that night himself: accordingly he went into thebox which lay over the flanker, where he staid till late in the night; but being cold (as was supposed) hewas coming down to warm himself, when one between sleeping and waking,or surprised through excess of fear fired upon him as he was coming out of the watch house where no man could rationally expect the coming of an enemy. Mr Gardner, although hewas shot through the back came to the door and bid them open it for he was wounded. No sooner did he enter, but he fainted away: As he came to himself, he asked who it was thatshot him, and when they told him, he prayed God to forgive him, and forgave him himself, believing that he did it not on purpose; and with a composed frame of spirit, desired themthat bewailed him not to weep, but pray for him and his flock. He comforted his sorrowful spouse, and expired within an hour.

[Samuel Penhallow's History of the Indian Wars.]"

The name of the man who shot Rev. Andrew Gardner was Samuel Prescott.

An account in the November 30th 1704 issue of the Boston News Letter addedthat three of the defenders were away. The Early Records of Lancaster tells howa coroner's inquest was held and that contrary to the accounts above, Samuel Prescottstated he was the sentinel on duty. When he saw someone climbing down from thesentry box, he challenged the person twice but receiving no reply fired.

The jury exonerated Samuel Prescott but apparently he was unable to forgive himself.He left Lancaster and moved to Concord, Ma.

As I said in the first part this article, life under such circumstances had to have beenextremely stressful for our ancestors. The story of Andrew Gardner's death is just oneinstance we know about in which those circumstances led to tragic mistakes. I wonderhow many more there might have been that were never recorded.